Val d'Isere
The Skiing Unlocked guide to ...
If you’ve been hanging around here for some time, you’ll know how much I have skied Val d’Isere and how much I love it. I would put it up there as one of the all time greatest ski resorts anywhere in the world.
Why? Let’s find out. Built on expert personal experience, here’s the Skiing Unlocked guide to Val d’Isere, France …
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Contents
Use the links below to quickly navigate this guide
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1. Top 3
2. The Basics
3. Where is it?
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Top 3 reasons for picking Val d'Isere:
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Some of the best lift-access off piste terrain anywhere in the world
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Over 300km of pistes for those who like to stay on the right side of the markers
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Bustling and extensive resort that still retains its peace and charm
The Basics
Val d’Isere is located in Southeastern France, in the Haute Savoie (Upper Savoy) region. The local currency is the Euro (symbol €, trading at around 1.15EUR to £1 GBP, and 0.86EUR to $1 USD). The local language is French. This is an expensive resort - be prepared to pay top dollar for lift passes and some on-snow food and drink; that being said, value can still be found here, and it is a great place for your first ski trip as a result!
Closest airports to Val d’isere are either Geneva (GVA) in Switzerland or Lyon (LYS) just beyond the Alpine foothills to the west; most people come through GVA, however - despite this being in Switzerland, there are no border checks between Switzerland or France, but make sure you have the right passport and visas to pass through Switzerland on your way to your holiday in France!
Skiing Unlocked recommends spending around a week in Val d’Isere; this will give you more than enough time to explore the majority of skiing available and a good number of the restaurants and bars in town! It is difficult but not impossible to do Val d'Isere in a weekend - the long transfer of at least 3hrs from either main airport is the biggest barrier to this.
For those on a “once in a lifetime” trip, book a fortnight - that way your touring plans or prayers for powder won’t be scuppered by bad weather! Recent years have seen a dip in fortunes in peak mid-season weather wise, so Skiing Unlocked suggests March - both for the snow and the sun on the lunch terraces - or January to make the most of the early season boom in snow.
There is a wide range of skiing available across the 300km of pistes shared with neighbouring Tignes. Beginners are well catered for, as are intermediates and advanced skiers. For experts, things are a bit limited between the piste markers; luckily some great ski touring and some of the world’s best lift-access off piste skiing is available!
The emergency number for France (and all of Europe) is 112; the ski patrol number for Val d’Isere is +33 479 06 02 10; if you’re over in Tignes, it is +33 479 06 32 00.
Resort website: www.valdisere.com/en/
Lift Passes:www.valdisere.ski/en/skipass-prices
Piste Map: www.valdisere.ski/en/live-piste-map
Where is it?
Val d’Isere is deep, deep in the French Alps - the transfer time of at least three hours from Geneva or Lyon is easily one of the longest in the Alps let alone France. It is nestled right up against the main spine of the Alps, the Italian border running in a ring around the resort in places.
That means that it is high and incredibly snow sure. Skiing here begins in mid-December and runs right through to the end of April. The resort is at 1,800m elevation, and the skiing goes right up to the Pisaillas Glacier at just over 3,000m. Add neighbouring Tignes and the shared ski area into the mix, and you have skiing from 3,400 down to 1,500m.
The high elevation means the resort opens up to a huge number of valleys and bowls, meaning the off piste skiing is almost as extensive as the on piste. Some of my all time favourite off piste routes, including Col Pers, Cunai, and the touring-only Col du Fors route can be found from lift-accessible jumping off points, making this - in combination with the elevation - a surefire favourite for powder hounds.
How do I get there?
The simple answer is to fly to either Geneva (GVA) or Lyon (LYS) airports, then take one of the many hundreds of transfers that bring skiers and snowboarders to the resort every weekend. The great distance many of these travel means that it can be quite expensive, especially for private transfers, but public transfers and “no frills” transfers like Bens Bus can still offer good value.
Taking the train is also an option, from both Geneva and Lyon, and further afield such as Paris or London. You will need to travel to the railhead at the foot of the valley, Bourg Saint Maurice, but regular coaches run through to Val from here and are timed to meet the trains - if your train is late, your coach will wait.
The transfer time by train from Geneva and Lyon city centres is about four hours, but it is far less impacted by traffic and bad weather - which have been known to cause chaos on the long road up the Tarentaise - and is a gentle, relaxing way to access the resort. Double check departure times on the way back - it can be problematic trying to find a coach and a train that will get you back to the airport in time for anything other than late afternoon/evening flights.
From further afield, you will need to leave London around 8am, and change at either Lyon or across Paris. From there, the direct TGV will take around 6 hours to cross half the length of France; again, may not be the quickest, but is a really relaxing and of course carbon-limited way of travelling!
For those of you arriving by transfer, from the 2024/25 season onwards a new bus station has been built on the very edge of town by La Daille; this is served by the Red line shuttle, as well as a dedicated free “transfer” shuttle bus that will drop you exactly where you need to go - just tell the on board team where your hotel or apartment is!
Find out more about taking the train to resort with the Man in Seat 61
Where to Stay?
There is so much choice on where to stay in Val d’Isere! The geography of the village means it can be quite spread out, but access to the slopes is provided via four bases - La Daille, the resort centre itself sometimes referred to as “Rond Pointe” where the main lifts are, Laisenant, and Fornet.
The town centre is where all the things are - ski schools, shops, bars and restaurants. However, all areas of town are well connected by the free resort shuttle busses that run continuously from 7am to late at night. There is also a mini-hub at La Daille, featuring a ski school, ski hire, shops and restaurants.
Some ideas on where to stay include:
Hotel Kandahar
Slap bang in the centre of town, Hotel Kandahar is a *** hotel that brings a little slice of luxury to the resort. Only 250m from the slopes and well served by shuttles, the Kandahar was one of the first buildings built in the 1950s when the area was transformed from a bucolic dairy producing region to a ski resort; it has been updated and enlarged over time to provide comfortable and modern accommodation. Oh, and did we mention it is named after Lord Roberts of Kandahar?
Club Med
Perfect for families looking for a completely stress-free holiday, Club Med have a brand new hotel built just a little bit out of town, featuring everything you need to have a great ski trip. The Blue line busses link the development to the centre of town if Mum and Dad want a bit of apés ski in their lives, but other than that there isn’t much reason to leave the hotel - oh, right, the skiing; ESF keep a cadre of instructors up at the hotel, meaning you can step out onto the snow each morning and straight into your lessons! Talk about convenience.
Hip Hideouts
Hip Hideouts have a range of luxury chalets across the French Alps, but their focus is in Val. they have 17 fully catered chalets, self-catered apartments, and hybrid properties to chose from. Alongside staying in luxury, they will also shuttle you to the slopes each morning and collect you when the skiing - or aprés - is done.
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For a unique experience, you can also stay at the Refuge de Solaise, a luxury hotel located at the top of the Solaise Gondola - which stays open later into the evenings to accommodate guests here. The hotel is well eqiuiped with a good restaurant and wellness facilities, including a pool, but can still be a bit isolated because of its location; even with the late opening of the gondola, your apres choices and opportunities, as well as dining opportunities, are limited.
The On Snow Experience
There is so much skiing here in Val d’Isere is almost impossible to know where to start. For a full run down of some of the best on- and off-piste skiing in the region, check out my “five best” pieces on Val d’Isere here:
Some of my favourite pistes include the legendary Face, the olympic downhill black run running from the top of the Olympic lift all the way into town, and the rollercoaster blues up on the Pisaillas glacier - always snowsure, firm, grippy, adrenaline fuelled runs for advanced skiers, but a perfect building ground for more intermediate skiers all the same.
The runs down to resort level can be a bit ropey at times; they ice over and concentrate skiers on them, so the snow gets scraped away very quickly; downlift is available via the Fornet, Solaise, Olympique, Funcilare and La Daille lifts, so there is always a way home for beginners and intermediates who don't want to chance it! Luckily, the pisteurs in Val are very good at what they do; everything is hit by the piste bashers every evening, with no moguls left to form … it’s a shame the same can’t be said about some of the runs over in Tignes …
Outside the piste markers, there is so much to ski. Some of the tree skiing under the Laisenant chair is some of my favourite tree skiing anywhere, as is the powder skiing that can be found both skier’s left and right at the top of the Pisaillas Glacier. Pays Desert has been the Elysian Field of our powder dreams on many occasions.
A word on “resort boundaries” - these don’t exist here in the same way they do in North America. You are free to ski anything and everything that has snow on it (and plenty of things that don’t). Just make sure you have the right insurance, as, despite what you have heard about European healthcare, getting pulled off the mountain by Ski Patrol can be very, very costly. The emergency number for France (and all of Europe) is 112; the ski patrol number for Val d’Isere is +33 479 06 02 10; if you’re over in Tignes, it is +33 479 06 32 00.
Despite us talking about Pisaillas as a glacier, it has almost entirely retreated; Pays Desert and the other areas around here can therefore be skied without treating the terrain like a glacier, i.e. roping up and using climbing gear.
The Off Snow Experience
There are so many really good restaurants on snow in Val d’Isere. These include La Peu du Vache, a steak and beef restaurant which is seriously good located halfway down Face; Edelweiss, with a delightful sun terrace to enjoy a glass (or bottle) of rosé in the spring sun located on the Mangard piste on the extreme left of the piste map; and Marmottes on the run down towards La Daille, perfect for a quick refuel of chicken nuggets and frites before setting off again!
In town, Bar Jacques has been our staple for many years, serving classic french cuisine including steak tartare and snails that are utterly to die for. This year we tried L’Avalin, the latest incarnation from their resident chefs that opened for the 2024/25 season, and delivered great wine, better tempura prawns, and gorgeous confit duck leg.
Booking is recommended for all of these restaurants, except Marmottes which has plenty of space and a more relaxed “self service” counter vibe.
And for an after ski beer? Well. Val d’Isere is famous for its thumping, bouncing Folie Douce, located halfway down the piste towards La Daille. It’s a long ski down, however, so make sure you give yourself enough time to take the lift up to the Olympicque and ride the gondola down if you’re planning on going long or going hard!
On firmer ground, Cocoricos has been a joy for as long as we have been skiing Val d’Isere. A live band - always exceptional - will always play whilst the sun sets, before a really really good DJ gets things going after nightfall, amidst a whirlwind of pyro and barrel dancing. This is part of the true Val d’Isere experience, and not to be missed! Cocos now runs late into the night, but the changing nature of the set as the evening goes on means there’s plenty to suit whatever your bedtime is.
For a quieter pint, to reminisce about the day? Les Fils et Maman fills this role well, with a lovely sun terrace right at the foot of the slopes.
You can party, too, in Tignes, just be very aware of the last busses between the two resorts; it is a long way and a very expensive taxi back if you miss them! That being said, The Loop is a Tignes icon, as is The Marmot Arms, both in Tignes le Lac
